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Cu Law School To Hold Moot Court Competition

February 5, 1997

"Megan's laws" will be argued pro and con by teams of University of Colorado School of Law students participating in the annual Rothgerber Moot Court Competition on Feb. 12.

The final round in the annual competition that provides training in appellate advocacy will be at 3 p.m. in the Lindsley Memorial Courtroom of the School of Law. Seating is available on a first-come basis. Overflow seating with closed-circuit television will be provided in room 104.

The case in the "moot," or hypothetical, court revolves around recent laws requiring convicted sex offenders to register with local law enforcement officials and provide for varying levels of notification to the public. A number of legal issues will be brought into the debate by the two teams of law students, one arguing for and the other arguing against the petitioners in the case.

By participating in moot court, students receive practice in preparing a case and supporting it in oral arguments before a panel of judges that this year includes Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis of the Colorado Supreme Court, Judge Carlos Lucero of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter.

Finalists on the student team representing the petitioners are Alison Cornell, Debra T. Trapp and Tom Ward, who will be opposed by a team including Michele Clark, Corey Cutter and Elizabeth Moulton. All team members have survived two previous rounds of competition to qualify as finalists.

The moot court was established in 1951 by the late Denver attorney Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his father1s graduation from law school. The younger Rothgerber, also a CU law school graduate, served as acting director of development at CU and taught law in 1958 while on leave from his private practice.